The Weight of Eternity
by Kyralih
Summary: Loneliness at the Door of Time. Drabble fic prompt


She had lost all feeling in her arms.

The realization came to her sluggishly, curiously, as though entering her stubbornly empty mind through the same thick haze that roiled around her charge. She examined this thought, her blank face creasing ever-so-slightly at the inconvenience, for now that she had realized it, she could not ignore it. She flexed one hand experimentally; it responded, but still there was no feeling. She released her hold on the Garnet Rod, stretching her hand outwards, dropping it awkwardly to her side. The pain came quickly, her nerves waking, racing up her arm to alert her mind to the lack of blood flow in that arm. She bore the sting easily, moving her other arm about while keeping a tight hold on her Rod, twisting and turning it to shake her blood through her veins, to "wake" her appendages as quickly as possible, that she may return her full attention to her duty.

"_What are you doing?" a young voice asked with some amusement._

Pluto stopped twirling her staff, quickly planting the key end on the ground beside her as she regained her composure, pushing the blush from her cheeks and calling up her fiercest face. None should be here – but as she found the young girl standing across from her, saw the wide mischievous smile on her face, Pluto's scowl softened.

"_It looked like you were practicing a baton routine,_" _the girl giggled, "Your baton is really big, though! Do you like your big baton?"_

Pluto's mouth tugged at the corner, and she quietly whispered her reply through a relaxed countenance. "I do."

"_I wish I had a cute baton like yours!" the little girl continued, "My name is Serenity. What's yours?"_

Pluto's staff fell to a neutral position, balancing in her hand as she took in the sight of the young girl with her silver pigtails and silk dress. She knelt down to be on the child's level, her heart beating slowly as she regarded the round childlike face, the curve of her little cheek, the color of her eyes, their focus somewhere above Pluto's head. She watched with fascination the girl's brows tighten and then jump as she continued.

"_Sailor Pluto? So you're a guardian? What do you guard?"_

She watched as the girl took her hands behind her back, rocking slowly as she listened, peering sideways at the door behind Pluto curiously. Pluto balanced her staff in her lap, freeing her hands to wrap around her knees. She smiled softly, noting the small creases in the dress, the tiny freckles across the girl's nose. Her heartbeat slowed painfully.

"_The door of time?" the girl repeated, half in awe, half critically. _

She was right on the line then, between belief and disbelief, her face tilted to the side, deciding whether she would trust Pluto and everything she said. She moved her hands in front of her, clasping them politely as she listened, her head moving slightly to help her eyes see the doors behind Pluto. And then it was there: the hesitant smile, the look of trust, her eyes lighting up as she stepped forward eagerly, little hands by her side as she bravely moved towards Pluto and the door.

Pluto's knees hit the floor, the rod clattering dully as the sound was swallowed by the churning fog surrounding them, but the jostling pain was ignored, pushed aside as her hands reached out for the little girl, offering a hug. Tears sprung to her eyes as the image finally started to fade, meters out of reach, the little girl still focused at some point above her. "_Please_," she found herself whispering, her voice cracking as her lips struggled between smiling and pursing, but still the image faded. Her heart faltered, pain of a different sort flowing through her.

Serenity faded completely, the visual manifestation of her memory disappearing as quickly as it had appeared. Pluto's arms fell, her face still focused on where the girl had been for several long moments after she had gone, willing her back. She did not know why the door did this, or even if it were the door. Was it an attempt to lessen her loneliness? An attempt to remind her of those brief times of happiness amidst and eternity of nothing? Was it trying to be helpful?

The image was not returning. Pluto lowered her gaze slightly, her arms moved to hug herself as her heart wept for the girl and her future. For Serenity, beautiful, powerful, and wise, and the fate she did not deserve. And if she were being honest, she would admit some heartbreak was out of self-pity. She was alone, and despite all the lives she knew of, all the stories she could know, she was lonely. Irritation pushed these thoughts away. What kind of self-respecting Guardian was she? To tear up over the loss of an illusion – it wasn't even flesh and blood. She was stronger than this. She was Sailor Pluto, Solitary Guardian of the Space-Time Door. Her heart still ached, feeling heavy as her arms unfurled, one grasping the Garnet Rod as the other furiously wiped away the tear from each cheek.

She stood, regained her composure with a few deep breaths, and resumed her station.


End file.
